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Teaching math so everyone can learn.
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Comment on Journal 6: Rank the Solving Methods by mrdardy https://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/2014/05/29/journal-6-rank-the-solving-methods/#comment-134
Tue, 03 Jun 2014 11:28:12 +0000http://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/?p=343#comment-134I wrote a similar activity years ago that looked at factoring, completing the square, and the quadratic formula as the three options. I had students working in groups of three or four, I gave them 12 quadratics and asked them to identify which of the three techniques was best for each of the problems. Then I asked them to write their own examples of problems that would be best solved by each of these techniques and had groups share out their ideas at the board. I wish I could find that worksheet now. I loved listening to the discussions – especially about which equations might be best for completing the square.
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Comment on Philosophy of the Final 2013-14 by lesanno https://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/2014/05/21/philosophy-of-the-final-2013-14/#comment-133
Fri, 30 May 2014 15:58:43 +0000http://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/?p=296#comment-133Getting the right length can be tricky with any test, and more so with a final. There are just so many great questions to ask that it’s hard to cut any of them out! My school schedules 100 minutes per final, and most of my students this year worked on theirs for close to that amount of time, although some stuck around to work on theirs some more. (I made notes to try to adjust that next time.)

This year I didn’t have the problem where a handful of students were finishing the test wildly faster than the others. Perhaps something that helped was that there were questions allowing for self-differentiation. For example, I provided distance vs. time graphs and asked students to write stories that explained the motion in the graphs. My fastest-working student wrote longer stories than many of the others, which meant he didn’t whiz though as quickly. At the end of the test I also included some bonus questions to challenge any who might finish early, including a couple reflection questions that required writing.

Yeah, I like the opportunity on final exams to underscore broad themes and to synthesize smaller ideas into larger ones.

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Comment on Philosophy of the Final 2013-14 by mrdardy https://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/2014/05/21/philosophy-of-the-final-2013-14/#comment-132
Wed, 28 May 2014 23:51:05 +0000http://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/?p=296#comment-132How do you feel about the length of these events? My school has a 2 hour block and typically asks students to spend at least 90 minutes. I wrestle with this as I’d like to have an assessment that my most deliberate students can still finish. This would mean that my best (and my most hurried) students would finish short of the 90 minute expectation. I know that there is a great gap in the efficiency with which students can organize material at this time of the year. I want all my students to have ample time to think.
I also find that I try to write these finals in a more broad fashion than unit tests. When the assessment concentrates on two to three weeks, I feel that granular detail is reasonable. When the test attempts to take in the entire course in its scope, I think broader themes – like those you outlined above – are more appropriate. I worked at a school where our department made finals look pretty similar. One short answer/MC/fill in the blank section and then single pages devoted to major themes where all problems on a page were related. I have not been able to convince my current colleagues to adopt this idea.
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Comment on Asking students to think about mistakes by Journal 4: Mistakes | Differentiated Mathematics https://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/2013/09/28/asking-students-to-think-about-mistakes/#comment-131
Wed, 28 May 2014 19:12:19 +0000http://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/?p=281#comment-131[…] already talked about this journal assignment here, so I’ll just post the document, with an editable version downloadable here: Ch. 5 Post Test […]
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Comment on Goals Jotted Down by Goals for the Future | Differentiated Mathematics https://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/goals-jotted-down/#comment-130
Thu, 22 May 2014 13:36:40 +0000http://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/?p=221#comment-130[…] the end of last year I posted a handful of goals I had for improvement. Here is this year’s […]
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Comment on Philosophy of the Final 2013-14 by Using Open Questions to Teach Simplest and Equivalent Forms | Differentiated Mathematics https://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/2014/05/21/philosophy-of-the-final-2013-14/#comment-129
Wed, 21 May 2014 15:59:01 +0000http://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/?p=296#comment-129[…] Sometimes comprehension takes time. That’s why I’m in favor of continual review and intelligently designed cumulative finals rather than the take-a-test-and-forget-about-it […]
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Comment on Math Hatred Concept Map by Mistakes Poster Idea | Differentiated Mathematics https://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/2013/07/19/math-hatred-concept-map/#comment-109
Wed, 28 Aug 2013 00:43:26 +0000http://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/?p=242#comment-109[…] is another product of the class I’m taking online from Jo Boaler about learning and teaching […]
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Comment on Students Lead the Review by Mathphrase | Differentiated Mathematics https://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/students-lead-the-review/#comment-106
Sat, 27 Jul 2013 17:38:44 +0000http://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/?p=196#comment-106[…] her end-of-year review, a student came up with her own vocab game (“Draw, Act, or Describe”) that I’m […]
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Comment on A Case for Mathematical Vocab-building by Mathphrase | Differentiated Mathematics https://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/a-case-for-mathematical-vocab-building/#comment-105
Sat, 27 Jul 2013 17:38:41 +0000http://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/?p=236#comment-105[…] after my vocab-building epiphany, I was inclined to be overly forgiving of slow vocab development. Fortunately my school has […]
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Comment on Inverse Functions, Illustrated by Goals Jotted Down | Differentiated Mathematics https://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/2013/05/29/inverse-functions-illustrated/#comment-104
Wed, 10 Jul 2013 15:31:58 +0000http://differentiatedmath.wordpress.com/?p=224#comment-104[…] After coming across the illustration of inverse functions that I featured here, I’m not sure if I’ll continue to use the function box. I […]
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